


Of Cold Nights and Warm Blankets

by None_of_the_Above



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Brotherly Bonding, Gen, Heating Blankets, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, NY is COLD, No Incest bc that's nasty, Some Hinted Insomnia, this is mostly self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-29
Updated: 2019-01-29
Packaged: 2019-10-18 14:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17582732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/None_of_the_Above/pseuds/None_of_the_Above
Summary: Raph couldn't sleep. It had been well over an hour since he'd gotten in bed and under his covers, according to the alarm clock on his dresser, and he was still shivering. New York winter nights were cold to begin with, and the barren, concrete walls of the sewer did little to abate the freezing temperatures. Add being a cold blooded, mostly reptilian entity to the mix, and suddenly staying warm through the night proved especially difficult. Thankfully, each of the turtles had their own heating blanket, but tonight, it appeared Raphael's blanket was malfunctioning, not heated up as it was.Good thing his genius little brother was probably still awake.





	Of Cold Nights and Warm Blankets

Raph couldn't sleep. It had been well over an hour since he'd gotten in bed and under his covers, according to the alarm clock on his dresser, and he was still shivering. New York winter nights were cold to begin with, and the barren, concrete walls of the sewer did little to abate the freezing temperatures. Add being a cold blooded, mostly reptilian entity to the mix, and suddenly staying warm through the night proved especially difficult. Thankfully, each of the turtles had their own heating blanket, enhanced by Donnie so they didn't require an outlet to plug into (instead running on a battery), and so they could sustain higher temperatures for a longer time than when they were created. But tonight, it appeared Raphael's blanket was malfunctioning, not heated up as it was.

With a slight grumble, Raphael got up, pulled on his red sweatshirt, and gathered the blanket into his arms. Odds were, Donnie was still awake, as shitty as his sleeping schedule was. Raph had made numerous attempts in the past to rectify the soft-shell's habits, but his brother proved stubborn; nothing short of watching him the whole night would keep him from getting back up to tinker in his lab. If he was miraculously asleep, Raph decided he'd just bunk with one of his brother's for the night. Most likely Mikey; though the youngest tossed and turned almost constantly in his sleep, it was better than Leon's persistent snoring or Donnie's occasional, oftentimes unsettling sleep-talking. Besides, Mikey's movements weren't quite pronounced enough to truly disturb someone as large as his eldest brother.

Raphael shuffled down the cold, dark tunnels of the sewer he called home. As he reached the lab's door, he could see light peeking out from under it, and hear the faint whirring of machinery. He knocked twice softly before gently pushing the door open. The noise stopped, Donnie’s work on a battle shell momentarily paused as the genius turned in his chair toward Raphael, pulling his goggles up off his eyes. "Raph. You're up late. Right? What time is it?" Donnie asked, looking to the gauntlet on his wrist.

"It's late," the elder mutant replied, "and I couldn't sleep; blanket won't heat up."

"Ah. Did you check the battery?"

"Did I - of course I checked the battery, I'm not a dumb ass! Had it charging all day."

Donnie raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay," he said, "no need to get defensive, just making sure. Last time Leo came with a blanket malfunction, he'd forgotten to charge his. Spent all of two minutes bitching at me for 'faulty tech' before I got to grill him for his negligence. Give it here, I'll take a look."

Raph scoffed, handing the blanket over. "Not surprised by that one."

Donatello hummed, clearing the table and spreading the blanket over it. He pulled his goggles back over his eyes, fiddling with them as Raph moved to stand beside him. After a moment, the purple-clad turtle let out a slight "aha."

"You find out what's wrong?" his brother asked.

"Yep. The battery's fine, but the wiring between it and the rest of the blanket is jacked up, so the heat's not going anywhere."

"Can you fix it?'

"Ha. 'Can I fix it,' of course I can fix it. Do me a favor and grab a needle and some thread from that junk drawer over there?" Donnie asked, gesturing towards the wall by the door. Raph did as asked while his brother grabbed a pair of scissors, adjusting the sleeves of his purple hoodie before getting to work, cutting the blanket to expose the faulty wiring. He mumbled a bit to himself as Raphael set the needle and thread on the table, pulling up a chair and settling in to watch his brother work. 

Donnie pulled a bit of extra wire from the drawer next to him, eyes not leaving the blanket. As Raph watched, he alternated between tools, working diligently and occasionally muttering to himself. The larger mutant's gaze shifted from where his brother's hands fiddled with the wiring to take in the rest of his appearance. Even with his goggles on, the dark circles under his eyes made themselves clear. He was hunched over, and there was a slight, barely noticeable tremor in his hands. And so far, he’d made absolutely zero mention of “upgrading” the blanket like he did for every other thing he repaired. Clearly, the younger turtle was exhausted, and his body desperately needed sleep, though Raph knew he'd almost definitely refuse to turn in if pressed. It’s still worth a shot, Raph thought, just gotta go about it gently.

“Thanks for helping, Dee. Sorry for the disturbance,” he said quietly. His brother waved a dismissive hand, humming what could’ve been a “no problem.” After another pause, Raph asked, “you planning on sleeping tonight?”

Donnie shrugged. “Probably won’t bother trying.”

“Donnie.”

“Hm?”

“That ain’t healthy.”

“I agree.”

Raph sighed. “Is it a ‘can’t sleep’ or ‘won’t sleep’ problem?” he asked.

“Both.”

Raph didn’t reply, stewing in his thoughts for the moment. Soon enough, Donnie set his tools aside, seeming satisfied with his work. He took up the needle and threaded it with only some difficulty before going about sewing the blanket back up.

" I can do this part," Raph piped up, "you've done enough."

"No, I don't mind. Besides, gotta make sure the needle avoids the wire."

That explains why the goggles are still on, Raph thought. Donnie patched up the blanket with surprising ease, the stitching almost perfectly even. The snapping turtle raised a brow. "You're good at that."

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. Became kind of a hobby after we helped April with that one project."

"The one where she had to design and make a bunch of clothes?"

"What other project could I possibly be referring to?"

"Shut up, I'm tired." 

Donnie chuckled before they lapsed into silence again. Raph broke it, asking "so, do you just sew up rips and patches, or do you like... make things?"

Donnie shrugged before responding. "Sometimes a sweater will catch on something in here, and I'll fix that. Or I'll go through your guys' clothes and find stuff that needs mending. Sometimes I'll just sew a bunch of scraps together. I find it oddly relaxing, so I tend to do it only at night when everyone else is sleeping and I can't, which is why you never knew about it til now."

"Huh." By now, the Donnie had tied off the thread and cut the remaining bit off. 

"That should do it," he stated, pulling his goggles up and turning the blanket up to its maximum temperature before handing it off to his brother. "It'll be warm by the time you get back to your room."

Raph grinned, pulling it around his shoulders, already feeling the faint heat coming from it. "Thanks, Don."

"No problem." 

As Raph went to leave, he stopped in the doorway, turning back to the younger. Donnie had already gotten back to work on his battle shell. Raphael lingered for a moment before asking, "you really aren’t planning on getting some sleep anytime soon?"

"Nah."

"You probably should, I mean... you look like you could use it."

"Yeah, probably."

Had Raph been expecting his brother to set his work aside and head to his room at the admission, he would've been disappointed. As it was, he knew better. He sighed to himself before asking, "you wanna go watch some Jupiter Jim with me?"

"No thanks. I got work to do, and you said you're tired."

"Work will be there tomorrow, and I'm awake enough for Jupiter Jim."

Donnie didn't respond. Clearly, Raph’s gentle methods weren’t working. He took a deep breath and stated firmly, "look, Donatello, either you come watch TV with me, or I'm forcing you to go to bed. And I will sit on you to keep you there. Probably not all night, but for a long time."

At that, his brother turned to look at him, no doubt trying to see through Raph's lie. The larger held his gaze, trying to convey a look of "I'm absolutely 100% serious and totally more stubborn than you." 

"I can tell you're bluffing-"

Damn it.

"- but, I'm not willing to deal with your whining and physical abuse, however short lived it may be. Jupiter Jim it is."

Raph didn't know whether to be delighted or concerned; on the one hand, he'd actually gotten Donnie to take a break from his work with minimal resistance; on the other, the fact that there was so little resistance said a lot about just how exhausted his brother was.

As Donnie went about putting his stuff away, Raph made his way to the living room to set up. Minutes later, the duo found themselves on the couch under Raphael's blanket, watching one of their icons battle silverfish on the moon. Slowly, they drifted off like that, curled up under a warm blanket on a cold New York night, feeling content.

**Author's Note:**

> Not entirely satisfied with that ending, but oh well. This is my first completed fanfic, so that's cool. Idk where the idea came from. It just... did. Thanks for readin!


End file.
